Fabricated Star Ornament - Page 2
Now you have your star and you just have to fix it up a little. Peal off the paper template. and use your files to file the edges so they don’t cut someone. I personally hate to file. However, it makes a big difference in the finished product if you take your time and do it correctly. Just like filing your finger nails (of course what jewelry maker has nails?) use even strokes in one direction only. The tendency is to file back and forth. But, it is better to file in one direction and turn the piece over when you have to do the other side.
Once you’ve finished filing, it’s time to drill the holes for hanging and adding more decoration to the star if you desire. I used a drill bit on my dremel that I also use for polishing. Then I filed around the holes to smooth them out. You will need at least one hole at the top in order to hang it. You can add more if you want to dangle beads or other embellishments from it.
You can give the star a variety of looks. You can keep it rustic and give it that "Country Christmas" look. I did this by not polishing it so it kept that old patina look. Then I used a hammer and the head of a nail and smashed the nail head against the star a bunch of times to make a texture all over it. Then I just tied some red and green raffia at the top.
If you don’t like the rustic look, you can make it look more glittery. For the second ornament, I drilled two more holes at the bottom and used some copper wire to add some green, glass beads to the bottom and top of the star. I also polished the star a little and then just added a little red bow. It looks a lot fancier than the first one I made.
This was a pretty quick ornament that has a lot of possibilities. You can glue or solder a pin back to it and make it into a piece of jewelry. You could also decorate a package with it and then it can be hung on the Christmas tree later.
Here's a printer friendly version of this project.
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